Integrating Runn with a project management tool can significantly improve alignment between planning, resourcing, and execution. The best approach depends on how your organization plans work:
Top-down planning → Start in Runn, then push to your project management tool
Bottom-up planning → Start in your project management tool, then determine the project team members in Runn based on their availability and sync back
Below are recommended workflows for each approach.
Key Principle
👉 Your project management tool defines the work; Runn ensures it’s realistically resourced.
🟦 Top-Down Planning (Runn → Project Management Tool)
This approach is most suitable when you know the budgeted hours and workload at a high level, and you would like to identify the project team members before creating more granular task assignments for the project.
Here's the recommended workflow:
Step 1. User enters data in Runn:
Create a Tentative Project in Runn (This can also be automated via the custom API)
Define Phases & Milestones
Break the project into key stages (e.g. Discovery, Design, Delivery)
Set the Budget
Establish time or financial budgets to guide planning decisions
Add Placeholders or Named People
Use placeholders (roles like “Designer” or “Engineer”) if resources aren’t confirmed
Assign real people if known
Add Assignments
Allocate time across phases to understand capacity and feasibility
Transfer assignments from Placeholders to People (if needed)
Once staffing is clearer, swap placeholders for actual team members
When ready, set the project status from Tentative to Confirmed
Step 2. Auto-sync the data from Runn to your Project Management Tool via the API
Trigger: When the project status is set to Confirmed in Runn
Action: A new project is created in your Project Management Tool
Data to be synced to your Project Management Tool via the API:
Project Name and Details
Project Team members
Step 3. User adds task-level data in your Project Management Tool
User creates tasks for each project team member
🟩 Bottom-Up Planning (Project Management Tool → Runn → Project Management Tool)
This approach works best when work is defined at the task level first, and resourcing is optimized afterward.
When to use this:
Projects are scoped through detailed task breakdowns
Teams plan work before confirming resources
Execution structure already exists in your project management tool
Step 1. Users enter the data in your Project Management Tool:
Create the Project
Add Tasks under Project Roles to estimate the workload
Step 2. Auto-Sync the data from your Project Management Tool to Runn via the API
Trigger: Project status is set as ready for resourcing in your project management tool
Action: A new tentative project is created in Runn via the API automatically
Data to be synced to Runn via the API:
Project Name and Details
Project roles
Step 3. User enters the data in Runn:
Create multiple placeholders under the project roles
Add requirements and scheduled assignments for each placeholder
All tasks are added under one assignment
Raise resource request (if needed)
Transfer assignments from Placeholders to People based on requirements and availability
Confirm the project team members
Set Project Status to Confirmed
Step 4. Auto-Sync the project team members from Runn to your Project Management Tool
Trigger: When the project status is set to Confirmed in Runn
Action: Populate the project team members from Runn to your Project Management Tool